SquareSoft in financial trouble...

SquareSoft announces that the lower-than-expected revenue from Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within will force the company into a second straight year with operating losses.

From GameSpot:

SquareSoft has announced that Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within will be its last foray into the film medium and said that the less-than-stellar performance of the film will result in a net operating loss for the company's current fiscal year. At a press conference in Japan, company COO Yoichi Wada said that profits from the film, which were a little over $30 million, fell "well short" of the targeted $80-90 million range. After posting an operating loss in the previous fiscal year, SquareSoft had forecasted a 700 million yen (about $6 million) profit for the current year, but now the company plans to book a loss of approximately $13.9 billion yen (about $115 million)to accommodate for the poor performance of the film. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was released in US theaters on July 11. It was released in Japan on September 15 and has thus far fared poorly in that territory also.

What's the betting on a widespread multiplatform support announcement very shortly?

While i admire the technical achievements in that movie i never once thought it would be a monster hit for Square.
Unless Sony bungs them a wedge of cash then multiplatform seems their best hope to get back into profit!

Do you think SquareSoft will try to release FFX this quarter in the US rather than the proposed 2002 date? Sounds like they can use the financial boost this release will certainly provide.
Gary
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Gary, I suspect that Square would love to release FFX this quarter, and would like to have done so all along if it weren't for their strategy of making the game in the original Japanese before translating it. As far as I know, thats the reason for the delay, rather than running scared from MGS2 or anything.

It's totally obvious from the look of the game that Japanese people are the target audience for FFX - so it's no surprise that the game wasn't made simultaneosly in English and Japanese. Metal Gear Solid 2, however, has more appeal to the American audience, which might explain why it's coming out in the U.S. before Japan.
I'm not surprised Square is losing money - I think they were doing too much at once, and they ended up doing a lot of mediocre work (Bouncer, Driving Emotion, Chocobo Racing). They tried going for the quick buck by making FF8 and FF9 really quickly (I think they just hired hundreds of people and just made them work nonstop), and also made all those mediocre spinoffs. They should have focused more on their core products and lightly invest in other projects. FFX, however, is very good and if they can just take the time to focus on a few projects, things might look better (?)
On a side note, I had a job interview with Square a few years back for a localization specialist position, but I'm sort of glad I backed out of it now...
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I think this might make Square consider/announce multiplatform developing sooner. That would be the ticket to getting back those losses.
Unless Sony just hands them a whole chest full of cash, I think this is what Square will need to do.
I personally hope that Square will release some games on the Gamecube(just for some nostalgia) but otherwise I don't really care which system their games end up on, since I will own them all.
What I want from Square most right now (besides FFX) is a fully updated port of Final Fantasy VII, and a new Secret of Mana game that is like the masterpeice that was on the SNES...with full co-op gameplay. Hmm, another Chrono game wouldn't hurt either.
Andrew
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ICQ# - 119869807

We're lucky enough to get FFX in January, I doubt they will be able to make it this quarter.
MGS2 is aimed more at American audiences because we accepted it more. Hideo Kojima said this in an interview once.
7, 8, and 9 are all being remade for the PS2, but I doubt they will be out before next summer, if that early. Probably 2003, 2004, 2005.
Even if 8 and 9 were rushed (8 took longer to make than 9, unless they started 9 a year after starting 8) they were still very good. They are making multiple games at once so they can achieve greater things at once and then achieve even greater things right after. Also, they can release more games more frequently.
Square lost a lot of money, I knew that. They just barely topped off $100 million in ticket sales worldwide, and I'm not even sure if the movie has been released in Japan.
Square will probably announce FFXI for the XB, but anything beyond that is a new title or a continuing title (like a new Chrono or Mana game).

Oh wow... I didn't realize that 7/8/9 were actually announced. I remember reading something about that quite a while ago, but I thought it was just a rumour, not actual fact.
So, since this has been announced *officially*(?) did they also announce they are fully enhancing FF7? (I couldn't really care less about 8 and 9...playing them once was enough for me)
This has really made my day!... I'm in such a good mood now. Thanks everyone!
Andrew
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ICQ# - 119869807

On a side note, I had a job interview with Square a few years back for a localization specialist position, but I'm sort of glad I backed out of it now...

I've heard they're a very difficult place to work - high expectations of overtime & quality of work. I know there were comments by stockholders in the last EGM that their staff turnover rates were quite high.
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high resolution ipod featuring dlp hd programming is the best, almost as good as playstation 2 with wega windows media on a super cd! ps2 and tivo do dolby tv with broadband hdtv!

I had read somewhere that the movie was being released in Japan in theaters in December, must've meant the DVDs.
From what I know, 7, 8, and 9 are all going to have graphicaly upgrades, higher res FMV sequences, and probably some tweaks, such as translation fixes and added stuff. They will probably remove any glitches.
I think the exact opposite of you, Andy. I could care less about 7, but want 8 and 9 on PS2 instead! I want to see how much they do to the games (plus they both rocked and it will be fun playing them again).

What I want from Square most right now (besides FFX) is a fully updated port of Final Fantasy VII, and a new Secret of Mana game that is like the masterpeice that was on the SNES...with full co-op gameplay.

Man, I couldn't agree more. About The Secret of Mana anyway. Me and a friend must have went an entire weekend without sleep finshing that game. What fun! Never have cared for Final Fantasy games though, so I couldn't care less what system they end up on.

That is one of the reason's that I'm glad I bought a GBA. So that I can play games made by Brownie Brown(which is comprised of a lot of the Secret of Mana team, plus many other ex-Square staffers) I can't wait for Golden Sun to come out for the GBA also(made by Camelot, who is behind the Shining Force games)...
Anyways, sorry to bring this thread off topic.
Square's in a lot of financial trouble...there we go, back on topic
Andrew[Edited last by AndyVX on October 03, 2001 at 07:34 PM]

And why did it tank? The same reason why there's a beast wars anime series. BECAUSE THE JAPANESE WILL NOT WATCH DRAMA IN CG FORM. Pixar's films are fun, but every time they try it, it bombs
Unfortunately, it look like the US, who won't watch drama in animated form at all continues the trend ;(
Jeff Kleist

Jay's Movie Blog - A movie-viewing diary.Transplanted Life: Sci-fi soap opera about a man placed in a new body, updated two or three times a week.Trading Post Inn - Another gender-bending soap, with different collaborators writing different points of view.

I would say that many people said TSW was aimed at its fans, but many people were pissed at there not being any magic or summons (which they never planned on having anyway, and for very good reason).
The movie was not that bad. Overall, its not exactly in the same category as Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, or American Beauty, but it was still pretty good. Even if you don't think about the CGI it was still good. Since the point of the movie was to convey a theme about life and death (other things like love, but mainly life and death) it actually succeeded. The ending wasn't too blunt, so some people missed the whole thing and said it sucked.
I wish there were more big films like this one. I would be happy.